Broadcast; Multicast - HP A6600 Configuration Manual

Unicast is not suitable for batch transmission of information.

Broadcast

In broadcast transmission, the information source sends information to all hosts on the subnet, even if
some hosts do not need the information.
Figure 2 Broadcast transmission
In Figure 2, assume that only Hosts B, D, and E need the information. If the information is broadcast to the
subnet, Hosts A and C also receive it. In addition to information security issues, broadcasting to hosts that
do not need the information causes traffic flooding on the same subnet.
Broadcast is disadvantageous in transmitting data to specific hosts. Moreover, broadcast transmission is
a significant waste of network resources.

Multicast

Unicast and broadcast techniques cannot provide point-to-multipoint data transmissions with the minimum
network consumption. Multicast transmission can solve this problem. When some hosts on the network
need multicast information, the information sender, or multicast source, sends only one copy of the
information. Multicast distribution trees are built through multicast routing protocols, and the packets are
replicated only on nodes where the trees branch.
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